The Dark Times Paradox
This Page is a work in progress. Please Stay Tuned for Updates The "Dark Times Paradox" is not strictly a group in it's own right but rather a future that may come to pass. This page will offer an explanation to the setting and well as serve as a hub for those groups affiliated with the Paradox 'The Dark Times' At the time we examine the future of The Dark Times Paradox, the year is 2025. The world is, as the name might suggest a dark place, rife with conflict and difficulties. Below is a brief history that explains how the world became what it is. 'The Final Days' Like all things it started out small, a whisper amid the vociferate chorus of the world. In this case it started with the fear and hatred of one man who had discovered that humanity was changing. This man sought a solution, the ultimate sanction, the eradication of those that had evolved beyond the constraints of "regular humanity". Add into the mix one such individual, seemingly happy to work to this end, to purify humanity and the road to apocalypse was set. Together these two created their sanction, a genetically engineered super virus that would attack the genetic markers inherent to only those "aberrations", wiping them from the face of the earth and forever preventing their return. In hidden laboratories they worked in secret, over shadowed by larger events, the whisper amid the vociferate chorus, until they were ready to strike. 'The Scouring' When their strike came it was, like their planning, quiet and almost without notice. To that end it cannot truly be said when it came, only that it did. The virus broke in in ones and twos in nearly every major population center, the gestation period long enough so that by the time symptoms were noticed at any level to cause concern it was far too late to worry about quarantine, it's virulence was already running rampant beyond any hope of arrest. But the strike itself was a grand betrayal, nothing like that expected by it's conceiver, for the purification of humanity was not the eradication of the aberrations as he perceived, but the eradication of those on the back step of evolution. Billions of people contracted the virus that attacked on a genetic level, millions more who possessed the genetic markers of the evolved on a passive level suffered long from debilitating period of sickness as their latent abilities awoke within them. As infrastructure crumbled under the strain, riots and conflicts broke out, costing the lives of hundreds of survivors. Amid the turmoil a group calling themselves "The Roman Legion" arose to some semblance of power, using the confusion and their combined might to carve out a small Empire. By the time the virus had run it's course the world had changed beyond any point of recognition, scoured clean of any vestiges of the old world, and as such this period became know as The Scouring. 'The New World' Between the virus and the violence that accompanied it The Scouring left approximately ninety percent of the worlds population dead. Every one of those that remained stood on the next evolutionary rung of humanity. The world was forever changed. Governments and law had collapsed, nations ceased to matter as a new world order arose, The Rule of the Strong. Those with the strength to do so took what they wanted whilst those weaker struggled to survive, to adapt to the changed world. Those who were not strong enough for the new world quickly succumbed, and the survivors had no time to mourn lest they be the new orders latest victims. Many gathered together into groups seeking the comfort and support of others to increase their chances of survival. Others gathered around the strong, seeking protection or to share in their glory. And so the world slowly settled, but a true and lasting peace was never to be found in these Dark Times. Without the engineers to maintain them power plants overloaded, electricity failed. Transport and communications systems soon joined them. Animals that were once beloved pets now had nobody to care for them and were left to go feral, predators from foreign shores escaped their enclosures at zoo, seeking their next meals in those unwary or unable to defend themselves. Much of the land now stands empty, returning to the wilderness it was before it was tamed. Salvery has become common place as the strong impose their will on the hard times, and the emerging factions of the new world find themselves vying for what remains of the old worlds resources. But the greatest of dangers to those who survived The Scouring is not any of those mentioned previously. In a word were powers are garunteed there is a caste unto itself known in these days as The Hunters. These individuals seem to possess god-like powers, each holding the ability to take those of others for themselves. Many are driven by a hunger that makes them dangerous as the manner in which they acquire the abilities of others often do not lend themselves well to the survival of their prey. The Paradox 'The Survivors' With a picture of this future painted, now is perhaps the best time to examine the factions of the New World and other groups that have a presence or interest in these times. 'The Roman Legion' 'The Spartans' 'The Mayan Court' 'The Union' 'The Thorne Family' Category:Alternate Timeline